Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi not only tweeted Dussehra greetings to mark the victory of good over evil. He also wished on the Dhamma Chakra Pravartan day as per Buddhist tradition, while stating that his fight for equality would continue.

While Gandhi savoured chat at the Ramlila ground on Tuesday, he visited a Dalit household which was attacked on Wednesday.

He said the Congress will not borrow from the BJP the idea of Margadarshak Mandal, under which veterans have been assigned the role of mentors and thereby virtually sidelined.

“The issue of elevation of Rahul Gandhi has to be decided by Congress president Sonia Gandhi and the Congress Working Committee. This is something which I cannot predict," he said, when asked about the talk that he could take over by March next year.

He said the grass-roots Congress workers wanted the elevation to happen soon.

Dattu's new task

With the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) out of the way, and the collegium he heads moving fast to fill nearly 300 vacancies in various high courts, using the old appointments system, sources say CJI HL Dattu has already begun with the next task.

The CHI is focusing on the selection of three judges for the Supreme Court, which has been pending for the past six months.

The steps initiated had to be shelved after Dattu refused to be part of the panel to select two eminent persons to the NJAC till the Apex court decided on the constitutional validity of the new body.

SC is at present functioning with 29 judges against a sanctioned strength of 31.

Expense woes

The flagship DD Kisan channel launched by the Modi government seems to have become a venue for political appointments.

An RTI application revealed that public service broadcaster Prasar Bharati incurred nearly Rs 4 lakh to pay for the travelling and hospitality expenses of Naresh Sirohi, an adviser to the channel even as he is employed on a honourary basis.

This expenditure was incurred in a period between February and September 2015.

“I am a social worker. I refused to accept a salary when advisors are paid in lakhs. I used my own vehicle for several months before I got an official car,” Sirohi said.

Award for Azad

On a day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of new Andhra capital at Amaravati, Congress veteran Ghulam Nabi Azad was awarded the sadbhavna award at the historic Charminar in Hyderabad.

The award function was held to commemorate the Rajiv Gandhi sadbhavna yatra launched by the former prime minister in 1990.

Azad has long been associated with the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana regions.